Letters to the editor

the way, I'm a native of Medford and have no vested interest in any of the Ashland candidates. I care about clean air, clean wat

Still seeking 9/11 justice, truth

Anyone who thinks that invoking "conspiracies" is necessarily delusional does not know much history. Humans have been conspiring since they first climbed down from the trees to gang up on animal, and other human, prey.

In recent times, the assassination of Abe Lincoln was not the act of the solitary madman J.W. Booth, but rather the result of a carefully planned conspiracy by a group of disaffected southerners. Similarly, the assassination of JFK was not the act of the solitary madman L.H. Oswald, but also the result of a conspiracy and elaborate cover-up. Unfortunately, by the time an inept Congress finally concluded this, 15 years had passed and the trail had run cold.

Most telling for our current situation, Adolf Hitler quite accurately gauged the threat of the communist conspiracy of his day. He greatly inflated this however, and then staged the Reichstag fire of Feb. 27, 1933, and blamed it on the communists. This clever ploy insured the ascendance of the NAZI party, a far greater conspiracy.

The neocon conspiracy currently running the U.S. government bears much in common with the NAZIs, including the goal of world empire and initiating a false flag operation in order to ensure adequate power to pursue this goal. There is no question that the government was at least complicit in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

Unfortunately for them, in this information age it has been impossible to conceal their long-articulated goals and details of their operation; including the numerous war crimes in Iraq, and that [the 2003] invasion was illegally launched in the first place.

This much is quite beyond theory: The government account of the Sept. 11 attacks is pure chicanery and cannot withstand the most casual scrutiny of physical scientists.

I know of no physical scientist &

not governmentally employed &

who is in the least deceived. It has nonetheless taken an inordinate amount of time for this opposition to get organized. Physical scientists are as subject to denial as the rest of the population. One may now visit the Web site Physics 911, sponsored by the Scientific Panel Investigating Nine Eleven (SPINE), for an exhaustive discussion of what is and is not possible in the government scenario. See also the peer-reviewed online "Journal of 9/11 Studies."

There is nothing we can do to bring back the 3,000 people murdered on Sept. 11, 2001. But at least we can honor them by insisting on justice.

Dr. Aaron Corbet

Kudos for OLCV scorecard coverage

Thank you for your recent article on the city council scorecard (Aug. 14 "City Council rated on environmental protection"); especially for including the part explaining the process for compiling the data.

"The evaluation was done by a local volunteer committee, analyzing votes on a cross-section of environmental issues that presented a clear choice on whether or not to protect the environment and were viewed as important by a range of environmental groups. The committee chose the votes without knowing how individual council members voted." (emphasis mine)

As a member of the steering committee of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters' Jackson county chapter, I am proud of both the objectivity of our work and the results. The mission statement of the OLCV () is to "educate voters about how their legislators vote on the environment and to hold these legislators accountable."

I believe that we have held to that mission.

Diane Beukema

Medford

Code Pink to protest Iraq war at DNC convention

The Democratic National Convention begins on Monday in Denver. I will be there as part of a peace delegation coordinated by Code Pink. Code Pink was formed in 2003 to protest the illegal invasion of Iraq.

Twenty of us will be riding the train to Denver on Friday. We are called to take time out of their daily lives to bring our message to the leaders of our country. We believe it is important to exercise our responsibilities as citizens of a democracy to speak out for peace and justice in this time.

Our intention at the convention is to keep the fact visible that the majority of Americans want an end to the occupation of Iraq, to end torture and illegal detainments and return to respect for our civil rights. We believe it is crucial for ordinary citizens to let the leaders of this country know that we, the people, want peace, justice and a sustainable and humane world.

We are not an isolated fringe group. We are the majority and we will be heard.